Life force
by AkuminoTsuki
Summary: But a fact that would one day be forgotten by time is that, on that day, Monkey D. Luffy had received a vivre card from his mentor Silvers Rayleigh. A card that would soon be the key to defying death itself. To see their captain again, the Straw Hats must travel dimensions gaining friends along the way. No pairings. Minor OC.
1. Before

**Hi there everyone, Luna here. Welcome Life Force. This fic is officially finished with editing so there'll be no more detours with making new chapters.**

 **I'd like to thank everyone reading this for taking time out of their lives to bother with my work. I hope it's worth it.**

 **A quick thank you to The Patient One for helping me with writing this. You should all go read their work.**

 **Oda-sensei owns One Piece, not me.**

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Prologue

"Ne, Rayleigh. Can you help me?" Luffy started setting down his drink to look the Dark King in the eyes.

"What do you need help with, Luffy?" Rayleigh prompted after a pause slightly surprised Luffy had asked for help at all.

"You'll be leaving soon?" Luffy asked although the question sounded more like a statement than anything else.

"That's right, I have nothing left to teach you," Rayleigh replied curious as to where this conversation was going.

"Then, can you get me a vivre card and write a message on it?" Luffy asked, looking hopeful and grinning widely.

"What kind of message?" Rayleigh asked without pause; if his many months of teaching Luffy had taught the Dark King anything it was how stubborn the young man could be, so Rayleigh just went along with whatever plan Luffy had conceived now.

"In case I die," Luffy answered without a moment of hesitation.

*THE PIRATE KING*

Steadily bubbles formed from the soapy grass of Sabaody Archipelago, rising lazily into the air and contrasting with the giant trees for a picturesque, dreamlike scene in Grove 46. Or it would have, were it not for the massive armies of pirates and Marines, the smoking craters from what had once been extremely powerful robots, and four wanted criminals—a young man with a straw hat, a young green-haired swordsman, a young blonde-haired martial artist, and an old man with silver hair, and glasses.— standing a little ways off, uncaring of the destruction around them.

"Rayleigh, thank you for everything these past two years," Luffy said looking up at the silver haired man.

"You're acting out of character, just go!" Rayleigh laughed, throwing down a small box. His apprentice caught it, and then set down both his giant backpack and the box.

"Rayleigh! I'll do it!" Luffy shouted, taking a triumphant pose as his signature grin stretched across his face.

"I will become the pirate king!"

The two men behind him smiled as their captain laughed, knowing that they would follow their Captain to the end of the earth. Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy all turned and continued running towards the Sunny where the rest of their nakama were waiting. Each and every one of them wore a smile on their face, ready to begin their journey again.

*WORLD'S GREATEST SWORDSMAN*

It was many weeks later, after saving Fishman Island from Hody Jones, taking down the rogue admiral Z, and forming an alliance on Punk Hazard with Trafalgar Law in order to take down Kaido of the Four Emperors, the majestic Thousand Sunny set its course towards Dressrosa, home of the Shichibukai Donquixote Doflamingo. The Straw Hat Pirates sailed with their usual carefree attitude that even Law found himself drawn into.

After all, how could they possibly know about the unexpected detour that they would soon take, and the challenges that they would have to face from it?

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 **'til next time!**


	2. The storm and the mystery island!

**Hello again. Welcome to the next chapter of Life Force, we hope you enjoy your stay.**

 **If I owned One Piece then *spoilers* Ace would still be alive.**

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Chapter 1

Grand Line weather is nothing to sneeze at, especially in the New World. Sometimes it's calm, sometimes it's stormy, sometimes it's snowing, sometimes there are cyclones, and sometimes there are all of those within five minutes. Monkey D. Luffy, future king of the pirates, didn't much mind the constant weather changes; to him, it just meant a new adventure! Unless, of course, the weather turned into a cloudless, breezeless heat wave.

This was the exact dilemma the young man found himself in now. Not to mention he was starving. Luffy lay pitifully against the railing of the Thousand Sunny, tongue lolling out, staring longingly into the crystal blue ocean before him. It looked so refreshing, but Nami would hit him if he decided to jump in… All this thinking was just making the heat worse. Deciding not to think about it anymore, Luffy stepped away from the railing, keeping his eyes on the sea. Realizing what he was going to do a second too late, Usopp and Chopper, who had been leaning against the railing with their friend, made a wild dive for their captain, missing him by mere centimeters.

Not even a moment later a second splash was heard, and Usopp found himself with an armful of Zoro's swords. In the background Nami could be heard grumbling about idiot captains while Robin just giggled beside her. Law lay a little farther away from the two women, reading what looked like a medical textbook. The Surgeon had had just about enough of the men on the crew when Robin invited him to sit with them. An invitation that Law was immensely grateful for, as it was the only spot on the ship that was at least halfway quiet.

Sanji twirled out of the kitchen to his two angels, presenting them with cold beverages to help combat the stifling heat. The blonde cook paid no mind as a waterlogged Luffy was thrown back onto the ship followed closely by a disgruntled Marimo, instead opting to glare at Law for daring to sit so close to the ladies. A look that Law promptly ignored, not even sparing the lady's man a glance.

Then there was a sudden shift in air pressure causing Nami to shoot up from her chair and shout a warning.

"Everyone, there's a huge storm coming!" A moment after the shout left her lips, the Thousand Sunny was suddenly engulfed by pounding rain and powerful wind.

Immediately everyone ran to their posts, trying to gain leverage against the sudden storm. Franky, Momonosuke, Kin'emon, and Brook came running to the deck from inside the ship to join them as soon as they heard the first clap of thunder.

"Goodness, I'm soaked to the bone!" Brook exclaimed, working to bring up the sails with Chopper, who had shifted to Heavy Point.

"Though, that is all I am. Yohohoho! Skull joke!" Brook laughed as they furled the sails. Luffy laughed as well from his place beside Zoro, the two working together to pull up the other sail.

The storm was rough, and many a time there were close calls where someone almost fell overboard, only to be saved by another one of their crew members. Finally, the ship was secured and everyone began moving into the galley to wait out the rest of the storm. A giant wave splashed over the deck forcing those remaining outside to hold on to whatever they could grab. Shortly after, everyone was safely in the galley and trying to dry off, with Sanji in the kitchen making warm drinks.

"Is everyone accounted for?" Nami asked, wrapping a towel around her hair.

"Nami-swan~, here is your drink. Robin-chan~, here is yours my lady," Sanji called twirling into the galley and handing the girls their drinks.

"Hey, what about the rest of ours?" Usopp grumbled, already knowing the answer.

"You shit-heads can get yours on the bar," Sanji answered, immediately going from love-mode to hostile.

"Stupid ero-cook," Zoro grumbled, he and the other men grabbing their drinks from the bar.

"What was that, shitty swordsman?" Sanji growled, his eyebrow twitching.

"You heard me, dartboard brow," Zoro responded, drawing his swords. A fight soon ensued between the present members of the monster trio. That gave the others pause, quickly realizing there was something missing.

"Has anyone seen Luffy-bro?" Franky asked hesitantly, not really wanting to know the answer.

"He was right behind me when I got in here," Chopper squeaked running towards the door. Everyone looked at each other and ran after their little doctor.

As soon as everyone was outside again they immediately started calling out for Luffy, ignoring the ongoing storm. Usopp looked over the side of the ship, squinting through the downpour and desperately hoping their captain hadn't fallen overboard. Usopp's eyes widened in fear and he screamed to the others, already taking off his boots.

"I see him! Luffy's in the water!" Usopp screamed. Zoro rushed to join him in rescuing their captain, and everyone else ran to the side of the ship both trying to see their captain and holding back the members of the crew who were about to jump in.

"Brook, Law, turn the ship around!" Nami screamed, Brook and Law running to the steering wheel to do just that.

"Let me go, I have to get Luffy!" Chopper screamed from Robin's arms.

"You can't swim, Chopper." Robin argued trying to soothe the young doctor. She set the small reindeer down and crossed her arms in a flurry of petals more arms appeared as Robin tried to reach Luffy, but he was to far away.

"Let go of me, shitty cook!" Zoro shouted.

"You guys can't jump into the water during this storm, it's suicide!" Nami screamed, bonking her reckless crew mates on the head.

"Luffy's out there!" Usopp argued.

"Calm down, Usopp-bro, we'll go on the Shark Submerge and get Luffy-bro," Franky said with forced calm, grabbing the sniper's shoulders so he was no longer looking at the sea. A splash made all present turn back to see a shocked Sanji holding a green robe. Immediately realizing what had happened, everyone looked over the side of the ship, only to catch a glimpse of green before it was lost in the waves.

"That idiot!" Nami shouted.

No one could do anything but stare helplessly out into the storm, praying that when they did find their missing crew mates, neither would be hurt.

*BRAVE WARRIOR OF THE SEA*

His lungs were burning and his throat hurt, he felt as if his nose had a liter of water stuck in it. Not to mention his eyes felt like they were on fire, and he thought he heard a voice insisting he wake up. That was funny, he thought he was already awake, was a person supposed to feel this uncomfortable if they were asleep? The voice was back, insisting he wake up, this time it sounded more hopeful. Had he moved? That must have been why the voice sounded like that. Something warm was in his hand, it squeezed his hand and the black haired young man tried to squeeze back.

"Luffy, open your eyes."

Someone was talking again, the voice sounded rough.

"Open your eyes, captain," he thought he heard the voice crack. Luffy furrowed his brow and tried to open his eyes, for some reason he didn't like that voice sounding so sad and worried. Slowly, Luffy blinked his eyes open, only to immediately try to close them again. Through sheer force of will, Luffy kept them open long enough to see dark green eyes looking back at him with barely concealed concern.

"Zoro," Luffy croaked, then stopped and cleared his throat to try again. "Where are we? What's going on?" The straw hatted pirate suddenly realized he felt weak and cold, like he had fallen into the ocean.

"You were out for hours. Are you all right, captain?" Zoro asked as he looked around, confident enough to take his attention off of Luffy now that he was awake. Luffy nodded and looked around as well. He and his first mate were sitting on a small ledge that was just below the water at the bottom of a cliff. The rocky side had ledges of all sizes up the length of it, and the edge was meters above them where one could barely see vines reaching out to the sea. Even though Luffy was only half in the water, he still felt the effects of the devil fruits curse, leading the straw hat captain to wonder why they hadn't climbed up the cliff yet.

"The cliff shouldn't be too difficult to climb, but one of my arms is broken so you're going to have to climb yourself," Zoro said, causing Luffy to look at the green haired swordsman, then at his arm. It was only then that he noticed how Zoro was cradling his arm close to his body, and had used his shirt as a makeshift cast.

"Don't look at me like that. Go ahead and start climbing, I'll be right behind you," Zoro growled, not liking the feeling of being weak in front of anyone, especially his captain.

Luffy remained silent for a moment, holding his straw hat to his head with a blank expression on his face. Then he grabbed Zoro's uninjured arm and swung him onto his back. Zoro blinked, trying to process what just happened; Luffy had moved extremely fast and Zoro hadn't been using his Haki.

"O-Oi! Luffy, what are you doing?!" Zoro shouted trying to climb off his friend's back.

"Carrying you," Luffy answered, using his yellow sash to tie Zoro in place and then wrapping his arms around the swordsman's legs twice. The swordsman struggled for a while longer, but every time he did Luffy would just wrap his arms around him more. Finally, Zoro just gave up struggling. Knowing how stubborn the younger man could be, the older man resigned himself to being carried over the cliff.

The minute Luffy and Zoro were over the cliff, the straw hatted pirate's stomach emitted a loud growl, causing said pirate captain to drop his first mate.

"FOOOOOOOOOOOOD!" Luffy shouted, now ignoring Zoro and running into the large jungle, most likely looking for said food.

"Luffy!" Zoro yelled in indignation, getting up to run after his captain and turning left. Minutes later, Zoro stopped and looked around only to see endless trees.

"That idiot got lost again," the swordsman grumbled, turning in a random direction and walking off.

*TO DRAW A MAP OF THE WORLD*

"Food, food, food, food, food!" Luffy shouted, running around the forest and looking for something to eat.

"MEAT!" Luffy shouted, sliding to a stop in front of a river. Grinning as he remembered what he had learned hunting on Mount Colubo, the black haired young man grabbed a stick and threw it into the water. A giant splash was heard dozens of crocodiles then appeared from their hiding places and glared down at the laughing man. "I love crocodile meat!" Luffy giggled, stretching his leg back.

"Gum-Gum Whip!"

Just like that, all the crocodiles were out for the count, and Luffy began dragging one off so he could cook it up.

*ALL BLUE*

"That was so good!" Luffy exclaimed, patting his stomach.

"Huh? Where's Zoro?" Luffy wondered aloud, just now realizing his friend wasn't with him. "Did he run off?"Luffy scratched his head, bemused, then shrugged and began walking around the forest.

He liked this area; it reminded him of his home back on Dawn Island. A wave of nostalgia hit Luffy, causing him to lose his smile as he thought of his brothers. Ace and Sabo would've loved this place…

With a bit of effort, Luffy shook off the depressing thoughts of his lost family, and let himself fall back into the childish joy that a new adventure always brought him. Maybe Zoro would turn up too!

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 **Come again!**


	3. Luffy!

**Hello, Luna here. I'd like to thank you all again for reading this. Enjoy!**

 **If I owned One Piece then it wouldn't be popular.**

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Chapter 2

On the far side of the island a ship pulled onto the beach it's flag hung limply with the lack of wind and it's sails were torn to shreds. Men trudged around almost robotically docking the ship and exiting onto the island. Their skin was dirty and scarred their faces empty of emotion, they were practically dead.

A door leading inside the ship squeaked slightly, a small figure poking their head out and looking around. Seeing that the coast was clear the little hooded being ran off of the ship and into the forest as quickly as their thin tanned legs would allow. The person, who we assume to be a child based on their size, ran through the jungle until it was a long distance away from the men.

Stopping in their tracks the child sat on a nearby boulder trying to catch its breath. Deciding to rest for a bit the kid threw off their hood and looked around. Wide blue eyes roamed around the small clearing they had found themselves in trying to gain their bearings. The child, now revealed to be a young girl around seven or eight shot up off the boulder her short black hair bouncing as she did so. Off-key singing could be heard a little to the left indicating that as the source of the girl's newfound discomfort. Thinking quickly the young girl put a hand on the rock she was formerly sitting on and disappeared.

Seconds later a young man appeared in the clearing singing a strange song about islands and idiots. The man stopped in the middle of the clearing swinging a stick around carelessly his red cardigan blowing in the wind. Minutes passed in silence the man not going anywhere shadows moving with the trees.

"I know you're there. Come on out." Luffy finally spoke turning towards a boulder. A faint squeak could be heard then nothing. A few more moments passed, then the Straw Hat captain sighed coating his hand in a black substance. Walking steadily closer to the rock in front of him Luffy reached out and grabbed the shadows framing the rock. The young man then brought his hands up holding a dark outline of a young girl by the hood of her cloak. The outline soon turned into a normal girl staring in fright at the pirate above her.

"H-how did you know I was there? How did you grab me? That's impossible!" The little girl demanded trying to get out of Luffy's grasp only succeeding in tearing her cloak slightly.

"Haki." Luffy answered simply letting the girl drop to the ground. As soon as she was free the child stood and glared defiantly at Luffy pulling a small dagger out of the folds of her clothes. "You're a devil fruit user?" Luffy asked sitting down on the rock the girl had been using as a hiding spot previously.

"I ate the Zurui Zurui No Mi (Sneaky-Sneaky fruit)." The girl replied wearily not taking her eyes off of the strange man before her.

"What does that do?" Luffy asked tilting his head slightly with a blank expression on his face, otherwise known as the I-don't-know-what-the-hell-is-going-on face.

"I can turn myself and anything I choose into shadows for a certain amount of time." Was the girl's curt response.

"That's so cool! So, it's a mystery fruit!" Luffy laughed ignoring the girl's bewildered stare.

"Sure, whatever." The girl answered dumbly then shook herself out of her reverie. "Who the hell are you?!" The girl shouted holding her knife out threateningly.

"I'm Luffy, the man who'll be king of the pirates." Luffy introduced himself grinning.

"Pirate?!" The girl shouted in shock dropping to the ground in fear her knife laying forgotten beside her. Regaining her senses the girl grabbed her knife and began scooting away. "Stay away! I hate pirates!" Luffy just looked at her with an unreadable expression on his face as he watched her scoot away. "I've had enough of your kind!" The child continued her face dark and her eyes carrying hate that a girl her age shouldn't know.

"You never told me your name." Luffy said not moving from where he sat and never breaking eye contact with the girl.

"Why would I tell you!?" was the immediate response.

"I won't know what to call you."

"It doesn't matter!"

"Sky."

"…"

"…"

"What?" The girl asked bemused staring at the man who had a completely serious look on his face.

"You won't tell me your name so I'll call you Sky." Luffy answered.

"Why?" The newly dubbed Sky asked trying to wrap her head around the complexity that is Luffy.

"Your eyes remind me of the sky." It was true, the young girl's eyes were the color of a sky on a clear day clashing with her night black hair but creating a unique balance simultaneously. She looked like the child of a noble, but her clothes suggested otherwise. They were incredibly thin torn and dirty her cloak more of a blanket than an actual cloak. Her overall appearance gave off an air of a person who had experienced too much hardship than anyone should bear, let alone a child.

"That's not my name!" Sky shouted marching over to Luffy.

"Then what is it?"

"It's Anne." The girl exclaimed for the world to hear, glaring defiantly up at Luffy who just grinned.

"Nice to meet you Anne." Luffy exclaimed grabbing the bewildered girls hand and shaking it. "But I'm gonna call you Sky." The black haired young man said standing from his perch and stretching walking off in a seemingly random direction.

"No! Call me Anne!" Was the girls immediate response as she trailed after Luffy her face red with fury.

"I wonder where my crew is? This islands boring." Luffy mused walking on.

"Don't ignore me!" Anne screamed waving her small fist at Luffy and running after him. Luffy stopped and slowly turned to Anne who backed away slightly fearing she had angered the pirate. A loud growl filled the air and Luffy clutched his stomach his tongue rolling out of his mouth with a look of complete suffering on his face.

"I'm hungry." Luffy whined.

"Don't be so childish!" The child screamed at Luffy who had now begun the task of searching for food.

*A CURE FOR ALL ILLNESSES*

Shadowed figures gathered around a desk, old wood creaking under their feet.

"Report." A cold voice rang confidently across the room a fat man smoking a cigar leaning back in his cushioned chair behind the desk.

"Sir, we've docked at an island." A thin figure began nervously obviously fearing the man before him. "Repairs are well on their way and we should be able to leave soon." A pause.

"But?" The obese figure growled leaning forward in his chair.

"The girl is gone sir. We think she may have snuck off while we were docking." The boy rushed his figure slouching as he finished his report.

The click of a gun cocking was heard then a gunshot the figure of the boy barely having reached his teens crumbled to the ground and lay still.

"Find that girl! Without her we'll never get that man!" The man shouted slamming his fist on the desk leaving a considerable dent. The other men in the room hastily nodded eager to comply with their bosses' orders. "And get him out of my sight." The dark man finished a smirk adorning his features as his men rushed the corpse out of the room.

*RIO PONEGLYPH*

"That was delicious!" Luffy laughed patting his full stomach. "You sure are a good cook, Sky." Luffy complimented looking to the girl across from him who was staring at the remains of a giant boar in surprise.

"I-it was nothing." Anne responded absentmindedly still looking at the boar's giant bones.

"So how'd you even get here?" Luffy asked in a manner that made it seem like he didn't care if he was answered or not.

"There's no way I'd tell a stupid pirate like you!" Anne shouted suddenly extremely angry. She then looked to the side gritting her teeth and refusing to meet Luffy's eyes. Luffy blinked in surprise at the outburst and was suddenly reminded of Ace when they were little. Deciding not to comment Luffy just laughed and started walking assuming the girl would follow.

"You must have come here on a ship, right? That means there's a beach somewhere. Beach's are a lot of fun, maybe my nakama will be there!" Deciding to head to the beach Luffy changed direction and began walking again.

"Idiot! The beach is that way!" Anne shouted gritting her teeth and pointing in the opposite direction of where Luffy was headed. Luffy just laughed and turned around walking off with his hands behind his head. Anne followed albeit hesitantly a confused expression on her face.

"Why am I following him when I just escaped from that place? I hate pirates… right?" Anne asked herself quietly.

*SAIL MY DREAM SHIP*

Shouts were heard through the bushes the closer Luffy got to the beach. Sensing quite a number of people Luffy stopped walking and turned to his companion taking note that she was shaking in fear.

"Wait here." Luffy said walking through the bushes and onto the beach to see dozens of men running around looks of anger and fear on their faces. Everyone immediately stopped when they noticed Luffy. Watching the straw hatted man warily they parted like the red sea while Luffy ignored them and walked onward.

"Who the hell are you?" One brave, or maybe stupid, man demanded pulling out a pistol and pointing it at Luffy, yep definitely stupid. Luffy didn't react to the man instead looking curiously at the wrecked ship before him noticing that pieces seemed to be taken out in precise places causing the ship to collapse. 'Sky' Luffy's mind absently supplied 'she must have used her powers to get away'. Just then a man stumbled out onto the deck obviously drunk. The reaction was instantaneous, as soon as they saw the man the other people on the beach surrounding Luffy stood to attention staring at the new man wearily. The man ignored them hiccuping and leaning over the side of the boat staring curiously at Luffy. The man blinked blearily looking over to the man who had threatened Luffy with narrowed eyes. The man immediately started sweating bullets shaking in his boots trying to keep his expression neutral.

"Marcus! Who's this boy?" The man slurred taking a swig of his bottle.

"N-no one, Captain. He just wandered in from the forest." The man, apparently Marcus stuttered taking a step behind Luffy as if to use him as a shield.

"Then, why the hell is he still alive?!" The drunk captain exclaimed throwing his bottle to the ground shattering it.

"W-we were just about to kill him sir." Marcus squeaked bowing his head.

"Speaking of which, have you found the girl yet?" The captain hiccuped looking blearily around as if expecting Anne to appear out of nowhere. Luffy automatically stiffened when he heard those words glancing discreetly to where he left Sky.

"N-not yet sir, we're still looking." Marcus stumbled over his words while his captain's face grew darker and darker.

"You mean to tell me, you've failed twice?" The captain growled suddenly sober.

"I'm sorry captain, we're working on-" Marcus tried to plead but was cut off. From out of nowhere the captain appeared in front of Marcus driving a sword into his gut. Marcus coughed up blood and looked down at the sword his eyes shaking. The captain grinned a sick smile slowly pulling his sword out of Marcus' belly with a resounding squish. Marcus coughed again falling to his knees his hands hovering over the spot he was stabbed. "Cap… tain." Then Marcus went limp not a breath passing his lips.

"Anyone else want to disappoint me?" The captain growled looking around at his cowering men. "Scum." the captain spit at Marcus' bleeding form.

Luffy slowly looked to his side where the other captain had shown up. Then the straw hatted young man looked down at the brown haired man who was now bleeding on the ground.

"You." Luffy stated his face blank and his voice smooth.

"Huh?" The captain asked barely glancing at Luffy. "You're still here? Guess I'll have to kill you too!" The captain shouted running at Luffy his sword raised. "I'm Blood slinger Rufus with a bounty of 60 million beli, and the man who killed you!" Rufus shouted thrusting his sword towards Luffy who hadn't moved a muscle and was still staring at Marcus.

"You killed your own crew member." Luffy said simply a shockwave flowing off his body and through everyone on the beach. Nothing happened for a moment then one by one the members of Rufus' crew fell to the ground unconscious until the last one standing was Rufus himself. Stopping in his tracks Rufus looked around at his fallen crew members. Then he turned towards Luffy a deadly glare on his face.

"What did you do!?" Rufus demanded, Luffy didn't answer instead going into his second gear.

Rufus charged at Luffy spinning his sword around as he did so. Luffy got into a fighting stance preparing for Rufus' attack, but instead of striking Luffy Rufus slashed his sword missing the teen completely. Confused Luffy turned around to face the man a little unnerved when he saw the smug smile on the man's face as if he hadn't just missed his target.

"You must be confused." Rufus laughed seconds later blood squirted from Luffy's side a slash tearing through his cardigan. "I ate the wave wave fruit, the wave's I create with my sword can travel for miles while gaining power. You stand no chance against me." Rufus said confidently pointing his sword at Luffy as if daring him to charge. Taking the challenge Luffy ran at Rufus reeling his fist back then sending it forward.

"Gum Gum jet pistol!" Luffy shouted landing a solid blow to Rufus' face. Grunting Rufus stumbled back slashing his sword wildly into the air.

"Wave of fury!" The waves from the sword cut through everything even giving Luffy some cuts along his arms which he used to defend himself. The fight continued on with Luffy finally gaining ground, which both fighters noticed. Hitting Rufus once and for all Luffy grinned not noticing that he had just sent Rufus flying in the direction where Anne was hiding.

A scream was heard along with crashing, then Rufus stumbled out of the bushes grinning showing off his newly missing teeth.

"So, this is where you've been hiding. You little bitch!" Rufus accused holding Anne's arm above her head. Luffy froze staring at Anne in shock then at Rufus.

"Luffy, help me!" Anne cried reaching out for the Straw Hatted Captain fear clearly written on her face. "I don't want him to take me away again!" Sobbing Anne continued struggling in Rufus' grip who then held a gun to her head ceasing her struggles.

"So, you know this little wench?" Rufus laughed his crew finally coming to and sneaking up behind Luffy. "Perfect, I can kill two birds with one stone." With that Luffy tried to charge forward intent on punching the bastards face in. In response Rufus' men grabbed at Luffy, the cutthroat pirates all laughing.

"Let go of Sky." Luffy growled glaring at the pirate captain in front of him. Rufus's subordinates held Luffy down shouting for sea prism stone.

"You've been quite the little pest." Rufus said ignoring Luffy and looking to Anne. "Your pa is one of revolutionaries it'd be great to catch him, but you're giving me a little too much trouble for my liking. Maybe I should kill you now." Rufus sneered his crew laughing sinisterly above Luffy's head. "Or maybe I should kill you first." Rufus said looking over to Luffy who just glared in response.

"No!" Anne shouted trying to bite Rufus' hand. In response Rufus hit the girl with the butt of his gun hard enough to hurt but not enough to knock her out. Luffy began struggling against his captors again knowing he could easily break free, but it could be at the cost of Anne's life.

"Anne." Luffy whispered looking at the poor girl who now had blood running down the side of her face. Realizing what was wrong Anne mustered up her courage and yelled.

"Don't worry about me Luffy. I've dealt with them before, and I can do it again. Save yourself." Anne exclaimed obviously very scared but putting on a brave face. Luffy grinned in response pushing off all of the crew members on top of him.

Startled, Rufus stepped back still holding the gun to Anne's head.

"S-stop! Or I'll shoot the girl!" Rufus threatened to which Luffy just brushed himself off and walked towards the pirate captain. "I mean it!" Luffy didn't respond, so Rufus pulled the trigger.

Luffy stopped in his tracks staring at Rufus and Anne in front of him with wide eyes. Anne stared back at Luffy horror in her eyes. Rufus pulled the trigger again only for nothing to happen. Annoyed, Rufus threw down the gun realizing he was out of bullets.

Taking the opportunity Luffy hit Rufus square in the face causing him to drop Anne. Then Luffy grabbed Rufus by the collar throwing him far out into the ocean. Several members of Rufus' crew dove in after their captain while the rest ran towards their boat intent on sailing out to meet their comrades.

Luffy stared out towards the sea making sure the pirates were long gone. A soft breeze sent the tatters of his red cardigan flapping around his beaten frame. Luffy sighed his straw hat falling to hang around his neck. After what seemed like hours but was, in reality, only seconds Luffy turned to look at Anne.

The little girl could only stare. She had been through so much. The destruction of her home town, everyone she knew killed while Anne had been taken away. The constant leering and taunting from that awful crew, their captain being the worst of all. Each hardship Anne had gone through the child was always able to turn away and work through it, albeit with difficulty and a rather great deal of hate towards her father.

But now, Being faced with someone so brave. Someone who had gone so far for her. Anne found she could not look away.

"Alright?" Luffy asked concerned. Anne just nodded dumbly still staring at Luffy. "Good." Luffy smiled his eyes slipping closed. Slowly, ever so slowly Luffy fell to the beach floor staining the sand around him a deep red.

"LUFFY!"

* * *

 **... Oops. I did a cliffy.**

 **Ja ne~**


	4. How can we save him?

**This chapter was unbelievably hard to write. So many emotions.**

 **... Okay... so many I'm a bit of a sadist... I probably _would_ have... killed _him_... I mean, in relation to the plot he kind of had to die... but I still miss him. So who knows? We'll never know cuz I don't own One Piece!**

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Chapter 3

 _Hello my name is Monkey D. Luffy. If you are reading this, then I am dying. I have used a special ink on my vivre card that reacts to heat, which means my card, or life-force, is disappearing. If the person reading this note is one of my nakama then there's nothing much to say except to follow your dreams and live. If the person reading this is not one of my nakama, then please find and tell them that I love them. I'm sorry I couldn't see this adventure through to the end, I have no regrets._

Anne stared at the piece of paper she had found on Luffy's body. Biting her lip the girl wiped her tears away watching helplessly as the small paper burned into nothing. Taking off her cloak Anne covered Luffy's body pausing to look at his smiling face before standing She had a job to do.

*LABOON*

The Thousand Sunny was unusually silent the missing presence of two of their nakama seeming to have subdued the normally rambunctious pirate crew. In any other circumstances Law may have found the silence a blessing, if not unsettling. Today, however, the somber atmosphere just added to his already lousy mood.

Almost a day had passed since the storm with no sign of either of them. Currently the ship was headed towards the nearest island everyone having unanimously agreed that it would be the best place to go. Sighing, Law looked down at his hands studying each of the tattooed letters and the symbol on the back of them. The young man stood there for a long time seemingly lost in thought until Sanji's call for lunch brought Law out of his reverie.

One by one, everyone filed into the kitchen Law being the last to enter. The atmosphere in the galley was even worse than the one on deck. There was a forced cheer in the air, the straw hats obviously trying to act like everything was fine. Which only made things worse. It felt as if one wrong move could shatter the room and leave them flailing in the ocean gasping for breath.

And shatter it did.

Every Straw Hat suddenly stopped what they were doing, silence falling so quickly even Law took a moment to process the change. Looking up from his meal Law observed the straw hats with barely hidden concern his anxiety rising when he saw the expressions on their faces. Looking to see what had caught their attention Law furrowed his brow in confusion when he saw nothing there. His confusion changed to suspicion when he realized they were looking in the direction the island was supposed to appear soon. That was not a good sign.

"Usopp-dono. What's wrong?" Kin'emon asked worried about the sudden change in atmosphere.

"Luffy." Usopp whispered absentmindedly. "I mean, what?" Snapping out of his daze Usopp looked towards the Samurai as if surprised to see him there. "No… nothing's wrong." Usopp finally answered shaking his head as if to clear it.

"Nami, how long until we get to the island?" Chopper asked looking near tears for some reason.

"Another hour or two." Nami answered absentmindedly picking at her food.

"Robin-ya." Law whispered figuring if he was going to ask then he should ask the only half sane one on board. The archeologist turned to him blinking in acknowledgment. "What's wrong?" Law asked trying and failing to sound indifferent.

"I do not know, Trafalgar-kun." Robin answered causing Law to blink in surprise. "I suppose we will find out soon." With that strange statement everyone hesitantly went back to their meals now wanting to get to the island quicker than ever.

*EQUALITY FOR FISHMEN*

Somewhere on the island Zoro lay against a tree dozing away after spending most of the day looking for his captain. He was having a rather nice dream about defeating Hawkeye when Kuina suddenly appeared before him looking exactly like he remembered. The world around Zoro faded away until only he and Kuina were left. Kuina didn't say anything only looked at him a strange expression on her face. Then, taking Kuina's place Luffy appeared before him smiling and holding onto his hat. Zoro opened his mouth either to reprimand Luffy for getting lost or to ask what was going on he didn't know. Suddenly blood spurted from Luffy's mouth his trademark grin slipping off his face. Zoro tried to shout for his captain but found that no sound came out. Then, Luffy fell to his knees still staring straight at his first mate.

"LUFFY!" Zoro shouted sitting up from where he slept. At the same time Zoro thought he heard someone else shout Luffy's name but quickly dismissed it looking around in a panic. Deciding that what he saw was more than just a bad dream Zoro ran as quickly as he could using his haki to try and find his captain why he didn't do this earlier he'll never know.

Except no matter how hard Zoro tried or how far he expanded his senses he couldn't sense Luffy. That was not a good thing. Zoro did, however, sense his other crew mates a little ways away from the island. Another person he didn't recognize was also on the island somewhere. Deciding that heading to the beach was his best bet Zoro made his way there following his crew's auras.

*TO MAKE LUFFY PIRATE KING*

The Thousand Sunny finally docked at the island the Straw Hat Crew immediately getting off of the vessel, behind them Momonosuke and Kin'emon stayed behind to watch the ship Law reluctantly following after the others onto the island. Zoro emerged from the forest moments after, seeing his crew on the beach he went towards them taking note that he didn't see Luffy.

"Zoro!" Chopper shouted latching onto the swordsman's leg tears in his eyes. He then noticed the swordsman's makeshift cast, immediately Chopper freaked out demanding Zoro sit down so he could properly work on the older man's arm.

"Where's Luffy-bro?" Franky asked he and the rest of the crew walking up to the first mate looking around hopefully for their captain.

"Oi, Marimo. I can't sense Luffy anywhere. What gives?" Sanji asked blowing out some smoke from his cigarette.

"You all felt it too?" Zoro asked looking like he already knew the answer. At everyone's confirmation Zoro sighed and ran a hand through his hair. In the background Chopper finished with Zoro's arm and handed the swordsman a shirt. Law looked to each Straw Hat in turn hoping for some answers, when no one explained Law finally had enough.

"Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?" Law demanded.

"Do you know that feeling of grief you get when someone important to you is lost? Like the breath was knocked out of you and you feel empty?" Brook asked looking to the Heart Pirate Captain, reluctantly Law nodded furrowing his brow in confusion.

"We all felt that a few hours ago, and the feeling hasn't gone away." Nami mumbled hugging herself, all the straw hats nodded in agreement. A foreboding silence fell over the group, none knowing what to say. Without a word Law turned and headed into the forest, the Straw hats all glanced at each other then followed silently after the other captain.

Half an hour of searching later with no results everyone was beginning to get frustrated. Nami had taken to threatening her captain under her breath while Sanji was stomping around the forest. Usopp kept pulling at his hair and Chopper hadn't let go of Zoro's pants leg as if afraid that if he did then the green haired swordsman would disappear. Brook was humming nervously while Franky had taken to shouting random catchphrases every few minutes. Zoro's jaw was clenched tightly and Robin's eyes were shadowed. Law just wasn't talking to anyone, which actually wasn't that abnormal.

Suddenly, Zoro and Sanji stopped at the same time looking somewhere to the right. Law stopped as well but didn't look towards whatever was there. The other straw hats looked at the area Zoro and Sanji were looking at not knowing what to expect.

"We know you're there. Come out." Law said no emotion in his voice.

A girl with cropped black hair and blue eyes slowly crept out of the cover of the trees walking up to the pirates shyly. There was blood on the girls clothes and her feet were bare, the pirates also noticed that she was hiding something behind her back..

"Who are you?" Nami asked gently her maternal instincts kicking in.

"My name's Anne." The girl answered quietly, looking at the pirates with fear in her eyes.

"What're you doing here, Anne" Usopp asked curiously trying to look behind the girl's back.

"Are you Luffy's nakama?" Anne suddenly asked stopping everyone in their tracks. After a few beats of silence Robin finally confirmed their identities suspicion clear in her eyes. Taking a deep breath Anne explained in a rush, tears appearing in her eyes. "I was kidnapped by pirates so they could get to my dad, but I collapsed their ship and ran away, then Luffy found me. He called me Sky because my eyes remind him of the sky and he was really weird so I ended up following him around. Then he fought the guy who kidnapped me and beat him, but-" Anne was full blown crying now shaking in fear of the pirates around her.

"Where's our captain." Zoro demanded looking at the girl with no emotion in his eyes. Not saying anything Anne just grabbed Zoro and Law's hands, the two being the closest to her, guiding them to a cave with the others following.

Once inside it took everyone's eyes a moment to adjust, but when they did the first thing they noticed was Luffy lying on the floor a blanket covering everything but his head. Immediately Chopper ran to his captain checking him over. Nami gasped in fear looking at the to still form of her captain the others having similar reactions. Zoro span around to the girl so quickly he should've gotten whiplash a silent threat in his eyes. It was then that the pirates realized why the girl was so afraid of them.

"He's dead." Chopper quietly announced bringing everyones attention back to their captain and doctor. The little reindeer pulled his hat over his eyes biting his lip so hard it almost started to bleed. Usopp slowly took a step towards the reindeer his legs shaking.

"Stop joking around Chopper, there's no way he's dead." Usopp stuttered trying to laugh at the supposed joke. Tears ran down Chopper's face the doctor trying to answer but nothing could be made out through his sobs. Law made his way over and knelt beside the straw hatted captain checking for vitals, he then looked up to the crew shaking his head.

The reaction was spontaneous, Zoro hit the wall so hard that part of the cave crumbled under the force. Sanji bit his cigarette in half leaning against the wall as if all of his strength had just disappeared. Robin fell to her knees staring blankly ahead. Nami shook her head in denial making her way towards the loudly crying doctor whether to comfort or for comfort wasn't clear. Brook slid down the cave wall clutching his skull as if in pain tears running down his face. Franky had to walk out of the cave unable to look at his captain's body. Usopp's legs gave way beneath him causing him to fall onto his bottom his eyes never staying from Luffy's still form.

"Luffy!" The straw hats all cried out as one their grief and sorrow tangible for miles. In Alabasta the princess suddenly began to cry clutching onto Carue as if he were a lifeline. On a small boat somwhere in the New World Jinbei suddenly dropped what he was holding looking off into the distance. In Amazon Lily the Pirate Empress suddenly began destroying everything around her tears in her eyes. On an unidentified island a young man with blonde hair and a top hat grit his teeth tears running down his face grief washing over him in waves as he apologized to his brothers grave unable to distinguish the new pain from the old one. Sounds of a party were suddenly cut short as a scream of pain pierced the air a red haired man clutching the place where his left arm should be.

Slowly, Law stood stepping away from Luffy's body allowing the straw hats to circle their captain one by one. Anne could only watch as a great pirate crew crumbled before her eyes in the presence of their dead captain.

Quietly Anne began to again explain what had happened guilt clear on her face.

"He was stabbed in the back while trying to save me." Anne finished sobbing.

"It wasn't your fault." Zoro suddenly said causing everyone to look at him. "Luffy always protects his friends no matter what. We should have been there." The straw hats nodded smiling reassuringly at the young girl.

Anne couldn't believe it. Here she was telling a group of pirates that it was her fault their captain was dead and they all just smiled at her. Who were these people? Nodding Anne pulled a old and battered straw hat from behind her back holding it out silently to the crew. They looked at each other then at the hat then Chopper stepped forward taking their captain's treasure from the girl.

"Luffy had something with him." Anne said quietly looking at the captain's body. "It was a burning piece of paper. I don't know how, but when Luffy died the piece of paper disappeared." The straw hats looked at each other realizing it was a vivre card. "There was a note on the paper. it said to tell you all that he was sorry, that he loved you all and that he wanted you to fulfill your dreams." Anne said through her sobs.

"That idiot." Nami choked on her tears looking to her captains form.

"We would have done that anyway." Usopp agreed covering his eyes a forced smile on his face.

"Well this is all rather touching." A smug voice suddenly exclaimed slow clapping echoing on the cave walls. Stiffening, everyone turned towards the mouth of the cave where a man was walking in as if he owned the world. Glaring at the strange man everyone moved protectively in front of Luffy ready for a battle.

The man was tall, freakishly tall, he had hair that seemed as if it were part of the ocean itself. His beard braided in several places making them look like small tentacles. The man wore a classic pirate hat and a scabbard at his hip his white button up shirt open to reveal a toned chest, he also wore torn up black pants and a black captain's jacket.

"Who the hell are you?" Sanji growled looking over the man with obvious disdain.

"The name's Davy. Davy Jones." The man, Davy, smirked taking off his hat and bowing with a sweep of his long coat.

"Liar." Usopp threatened never taking his eyes off the man.

"No, I assure you. I tell the truth. My name is Davy Jones and I come from Davy Jones' Locker." The man said all the while a wearing a smug smirk.

"What do you want?" Chopper snapped his heavy point form making him all the more threatening.

"To give you a chance." Davy said smoothly disappearing before their eyes. "You can save your captain." Davy's voice rang through the cave causing everyone to turn around to see the man sitting cross legged behind Luffy's body. Silence filled the cave everyone trying to process what the man had just said trying to squash the hope they felt rising inside them.

"How?" Nami asked desperately.

"There are places on the earth, cracks in a wall if you will." Davy began jumping up and walking around Law and the straw hats his hands behind his back. "These cracks act as a gateway to another dimension, this dimension acts as a sort of hallway for all other dimensions in existence. Each door leading to a different dimension, this island is one such crack. When a person dies on these cracks, their soul ends up getting sucked into the hallway. As a result the hallway has been mistaken for the afterlife and I mistaken for the grim reaper. Pirates around the world have, as a result, called the hallway Davy Jones' Locker." At these words the pirates present all looked at each other well aware of the legends of Davy Jones' Locker. "I was the first to die on one of those cracks and have been the guardian of The Locker ever since. Every time a person dies on these cracks I have to give their friends a chance to save them. However, not many have taken the chance." Davy sighed shaking his head.

"Why not?" Robin asked intrigued.

"There is a catch." Jones purred suddenly appearing before Robin causing her to step back in surprise.

"What's the catch?" Law asked glaring at the man.

"If the crew agrees to save their crew mate they must travel to different dimensions in order to do so." Davy explained stepping back from Robin with a chuckle.

"Why's that?" Brook asked hand on his cane sword.

"When a person is sucked into Davy Jones' Locker the confusion of all the different dimensions causes the person's soul to be ripped apart and scattered. These pieces are then drawn to familiarity." Davy sighed as if it were obvious.

"Familiarity?" Franky asked cocking his head to the side.

"Yes, you idiot. Dimensions with the person who died. What I find interesting is that your captain is in quite a few of these." Jones' said the last part sounding more like he was talking to himself than to them. "Some pieces of the soul are large, some small. It all depends on what part of the soul it is."

"What does that mean?" Usopp asked.

"Every person's soul is made up of different components. Grief, childhood, friends, family, romantic relationships, hobbies, etcetera. If a dominating part of your captain's soul is happiness then that piece will be bigger than, say, romantic relations." Davy explained waving his hand as if swatting away an annoying fly.

"You said there were many dimensions with Luffy in them." Robin said raising a questioning eyebrow.

"With all of you." Jones corrected gesturing to everyone present. "You're rather popular." Davy snorted crossing his arms.

"What kinds of dimensions are there?" Nami asked.

"Infinite. Some only have minor differences such as a person never being born, and some are completely different worlds, some are just on a slower time line than others, some are dimensions created by another person's mind. It really depends." Davy shrugged.

"We have to go through all of these?" Law questioned.

"No, just the ones that have both Straw hat and a piece of your Straw Hat's soul." Jones sung out.

"You still haven't told us the catch." Zoro finally spoke up staring at the strange man in front of him.

"There are guardians for each part of the soul, and a time limit before the piece disappears completely. The time limit and strength of the guardian depends on the size of the piece of Straw hat's soul, the bigger they are the more powerful the guardian and the more time you have." Davy said holding up his pocket watch to emphasize.

"What happens if the guardian defeats us, or if we don't get the piece in time?" Chopper asked holding onto his captains limp hand.

"Then you fail." Jones answered a wide smile on his face.

"What happens if we fail?' Sanji asked.

"It depends on if I like you or not. You either become a mindless guardian or you have to join my crew and follow me. Either way you're trapped in the locker forever and your captain disappears. If you take this challenge, you're captain won't just die, his soul will vanish and he'll seize to exist." Davy answered swinging his pocket watch around nonchalantly.

"How do we know what dimension to go to?" Brook asked.

"You'll automatically appear at whatever dimension part of your captain's soul is in." Davy answered.

"What happens to the soul pieces when we get them back." Robin asked.

" When your captain's soul piece is saved he will briefly appear before you. If your captain truly does care about all of you then his soul will recognize you all. This will allow it to return to it's correct body. With each piece recovered your captain will heal little by little until all of his soul is recovered and he is brought back to life." Jones sighed obviously getting impatient with the constant questions.

"Alright." Everyone turned towards Zoro surprised at the sudden statement. "We'll play your game, and we'll get our captain back." With these words all of the straw hats nodded in agreement looking to Davy Jones determined expressions on their faces.

"I'll stay here and watch over Luffy." Anne volunteered.

"I'll stay with the girl and Straw Hat-ya you all save your captain." Law said looking down at Luffy's still form. Nodding Zoro turned towards Davy Jones still managing to look imposing with one arm in a sling.

Grinning Davy skipped to each straw hat handing each of them an accessory with a watch on it.

"These show your time remaining in each dimension. You'll know when your captains soul is nearby, have fun!" Jones exclaimed a bright white light suddenly engulfing the straw hats.

After the light disappeared and they could see again Law and Anne looked noticed that Davy and the straw hats were gone. Looking at each other the two settled down on either side of Luffy in silence.

"Looks like it's just you and me, Anne-ya." Law said silently worried about his allies.

"Call me Sky." Anne replied looking at Luffy's body and missing the small smile on Law's face.

* * *

 **I'm sorry...**

 **Also, I am currently facing a dilemma.**

 **If I were to do a gender bend dimension. What would change? Would everyone change genders? Would Ace still be alive? Would he be a girl? Would he have gone with Luffy when he/she set out? So many question.**

 **You, my dear fans, must answer them or the next chapter may never come out.**

 **Do, please keep in mind that I don't do romance, of any kind.**


	5. So it begins

**Finally done! I can't believe how long this took me, but it was so worth it. I must say I'm rather proud of this one.**

 **I don't own One Piece**

 **So this one may be a little confusing at some points, but that's just because of all the characters.**

 **I considered saving Ace in this dimension, but I figured that it would seem too forced. I'll just save him later.**

 **Also, the new chapters of One Piece! OMGGGGGG**

 **Enjoy!**

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The day was calm a light breeze accompanying the hot sun. A girl sits staring into the distance. She turns around and says one thing...

"APRIL FOOLS!"

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 **I'm so sorry, this was so mean.**

 **But don't blame me! This is just payback to X-Chick303 and The Patient One. They gave me the idea, they're a bad influence!**

 **In all seriousness though, I will update soon I promise.**

 **HAPPY BIRTHDAY USOPP**

 **Sanji's birthday has passed, but he deserves a happy birthday too. Tomorrow will be Jinbei's and the day after will be Brook's. Happy birthday guys!**


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